Yesaya 9:7

9:7 His dominion will be vast ¹ 

and he will bring immeasurable prosperity. ² 

He will rule on David’s throne

and over David’s kingdom, ³ 

establishing it ⁴  and strengthening it

by promoting justice and fairness, ⁵ 

from this time forward and forevermore.

The Lord’s intense devotion to his people ⁶  will accomplish this.

Yesaya 24:5

24:5 The earth is defiled by ⁷  its inhabitants, ⁸ 

for they have violated laws,

disregarded the regulation, ⁹ 

and broken the permanent treaty. ¹⁰ 

Yesaya 30:8

30:8 Now go, write it ¹¹  down on a tablet in their presence, ¹² 

inscribe it on a scroll,

so that it might be preserved for a future time

as an enduring witness. ¹³ 

Yesaya 32:14

32:14 For the fortress is neglected;

the once-crowded ¹⁴  city is abandoned.

Hill ¹⁵  and watchtower

are permanently uninhabited. ¹⁶ 

Wild donkeys love to go there,

and flocks graze there. ¹⁷ 

Yesaya 32:17

32:17 Fairness will produce peace ¹⁸ 

and result in lasting security. ¹⁹ 

Yesaya 33:14

33:14 Sinners are afraid in Zion;

panic ²⁰  grips the godless. ²¹ 

They say, ²²  ‘Who among us can coexist with destructive fire?

Who among us can coexist with unquenchable ²³  fire?’

Yesaya 34:17

34:17 He assigns them their allotment; ²⁴ 

he measures out their assigned place. ²⁵ 

They will live there ²⁶  permanently;

they will settle in it through successive generations.

Yesaya 35:10

35:10 those whom the Lord has ransomed will return that way. ²⁷ 

They will enter Zion with a happy shout.

Unending joy will crown them, ²⁸ 

happiness and joy will overwhelm ²⁹  them;

grief and suffering will disappear. ³⁰ 

Yesaya 40:28

40:28 Do you not know?

Have you not heard?

The Lord is an eternal God,

the creator of the whole earth. ³¹ 

He does not get tired or weary;

there is no limit to his wisdom. ³² 

Yesaya 44:7

44:7 Who is like me? Let him make his claim! ³³ 

Let him announce it and explain it to me –

since I established an ancient people – ³⁴ 

let them announce future events! ³⁵ 

Yesaya 51:11

51:11 Those whom the Lord has ransomed will return;

they will enter Zion with a happy shout.

Unending joy will crown them, ³⁶ 

happiness and joy will overwhelm ³⁷  them;

grief and suffering will disappear. ³⁸ 

Yesaya 54:8

54:8 In a burst ³⁹  of anger I rejected you ⁴⁰  momentarily,

but with lasting devotion I will have compassion on you,”

says your protector, ⁴¹  the Lord.

Yesaya 55:3

55:3 Pay attention and come to me!

Listen, so you can live! ⁴² 

Then I will make an unconditional covenantal promise to ⁴³  you,

just like the reliable covenantal promises I made to David. ⁴⁴ 

Yesaya 55:13

55:13 Evergreens will grow in place of thorn bushes,

firs will grow in place of nettles;

they will be a monument to the Lord, ⁴⁵ 

a permanent reminder that will remain. ⁴⁶ 

Yesaya 56:5

56:5 I will set up within my temple and my walls a monument ⁴⁷ 

that will be better than sons and daughters.

I will set up a permanent monument ⁴⁸  for them that will remain.

Yesaya 58:12

58:12 Your perpetual ruins will be rebuilt; ⁴⁹ 

you will reestablish the ancient foundations.

You will be called, ‘The one who repairs broken walls,

the one who makes the streets inhabitable again.’ ⁵⁰ 

Yesaya 59:21

59:21 “As for me, this is my promise to ⁵¹  them,” says the Lord. “My spirit, who is upon you, and my words, which I have placed in your mouth, will not depart from your mouth or from the mouths of your children and descendants from this time forward,” ⁵²  says the Lord.

Yesaya 60:15

60:15 You were once abandoned

and despised, with no one passing through,

but I will make you ⁵³  a permanent source of pride

and joy to coming generations.

Yesaya 60:19-20

60:19 The sun will no longer supply light for you by day,

nor will the moon’s brightness shine on you;

the Lord will be your permanent source of light –

the splendor of your God will shine upon you. ⁵⁴ 

60:20 Your sun will no longer set;

your moon will not disappear; ⁵⁵ 

the Lord will be your permanent source of light;

your time ⁵⁶  of sorrow will be over.

Yesaya 61:4

61:4 They will rebuild the perpetual ruins

and restore the places that were desolate; ⁵⁷ 

they will reestablish the ruined cities,

the places that have been desolate since ancient times.

Yesaya 61:7-8

61:7 Instead of shame, you will get a double portion; ⁵⁸ 

instead of humiliation, they will rejoice over the land they receive. ⁵⁹ 

Yes, ⁶⁰  they will possess a double portion in their land

and experience lasting joy.

61:8 For I, the Lord, love justice

and hate robbery and sin.

I will repay them because of my faithfulness; ⁶¹ 

I will make a permanent covenant with them.

Yesaya 63:9

63:9 Through all that they suffered, he suffered too. ⁶² 

The messenger sent from his very presence ⁶³  delivered them.

In his love and mercy he protected ⁶⁴  them;

he lifted them up and carried them throughout ancient times. ⁶⁵ 

Yesaya 63:11-12

63:11 His people remembered the ancient times. ⁶⁶ 

Where is the one who brought them up out of the sea,

along with the shepherd of ⁶⁷  his flock?

Where is the one who placed his holy Spirit among them, ⁶⁸ 

63:12 the one who made his majestic power available to Moses, ⁶⁹ 

who divided the water before them,

gaining for himself a lasting reputation, ⁷⁰ 

Yesaya 64:5

64:5 You assist ⁷¹  those who delight in doing what is right, ⁷² 

who observe your commandments. ⁷³ 

Look, you were angry because we violated them continually.

How then can we be saved? ⁷⁴ 

[9:7]  ¹ tc The Hebrew text has לְםַרְבֵּה (lÿmarbeh), which is a corrupt reading. לם is dittographic; note the preceding word, שָׁלוֹם (shalom). The corrected text reads literally, “great is the dominion.”

[9:7]  ² tn Heb “and to peace there will be no end” (KJV and ASV both similar). On the political and socio-economic sense of שָׁלוֹם (shalom) in this context, see the note at v. 6 on “Prince of Peace.”

[9:7]  ³ tn Heb “over the throne of David, and over his kingdom.” The referent of the pronoun “his” (i.e., David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:7]  ⁴ tn The feminine singular pronominal suffix on this form and the following one (translated “it” both times) refers back to the grammatically feminine noun “kingdom.”

[9:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “with/by justice and fairness”; ASV “with justice and with righteousness.”

[9:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “the zeal of the Lord.” In this context the Lord’s “zeal” refers to his intense devotion to and love for his people which prompts him to vindicate them and to fulfill his promises to David and the nation.

[24:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “beneath”; cf. KJV, ASV, NRSV “under”; NAB “because of.”

[24:5]  ⁸ sn Isa 26:21 suggests that the earth’s inhabitants defiled the earth by shedding the blood of their fellow human beings. See also Num 35:33-34, which assumes that bloodshed defiles a land.

[24:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “moved past [the?] regulation.”

[24:5]  ¹⁰ tn Or “everlasting covenant” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NAB “the ancient covenant”; CEV “their agreement that was to last forever.”

[24:5]  sn For a lengthy discussion of the identity of this covenant/treaty, see R. Chisholm, “The ‘Everlasting Covenant’ and the ‘City of Chaos’: Intentional Ambiguity and Irony in Isaiah 24,” CTR 6 (1993): 237-53. In this context, where judgment comes upon both the pagan nations and God’s covenant community, the phrase “permanent treaty” is intentionally ambiguous. For the nations this treaty is the Noahic mandate of Gen 9:1-7 with its specific stipulations and central regulation (Gen 9:7). By shedding blood, the warlike nations violated this treaty, which promotes population growth and prohibits murder. For Israel, which was also guilty of bloodshed (see Isa 1:15, 21; 4:4), this “permanent treaty” would refer more specifically to the Mosaic Law and its regulations prohibiting murder (Exod 20:13; Num 35:6-34), which are an extension of the Noahic mandate.

[30:8]  ¹¹ tn The referent of the third feminine singular pronominal suffix is uncertain. Perhaps it refers to the preceding message, which accuses the people of rejecting the Lord’s help in favor of an alliance with Egypt.

[30:8]  ¹² tn Heb “with them.” On the use of the preposition here, see BDB 86 s.v. II אֵת.

[30:8]  ¹³ sn Recording the message will enable the prophet to use it in the future as evidence that God warned his people of impending judgment and clearly spelled out the nation’s guilt. An official record of the message will also serve as proof of the prophet’s authority as God’s spokesman.

[32:14]  ¹⁴ tn Or “noisy” (NAB, NIV, NCV).

[32:14]  ¹⁵ tn Hebrew עֹפֶל (’ofel), probably refers here to a specific area within the city of Jerusalem. See HALOT 861 s.v. II עֹפֶל.

[32:14]  ¹⁶ tn The Hebrew text has בְעַד מְעָרוֹת (vÿ’ad mÿ’arot). The force of בְעַד, which usually means “behind, through, round about,” or “for the benefit of,” is uncertain here. HALOT 616 s.v. *מְעָרָה takes מְעָרוֹת (mÿ’arot) as a homonym of “cave” and define it here as “cleared field.” Despite these lexical problems, the general point of the statement seems clear – the city will be uninhabited.

[32:14]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the joy of wild donkeys, a pasture for flocks.”

[32:17]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and the product of fairness will be peace.”

[32:17]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and the work of fairness [will be] calmness and security forever.”

[33:14]  ²⁰ tn Or “trembling” (ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “shake with fear.”

[33:14]  ²¹ tn Or “the defiled”; TEV “The sinful people of Zion”; NLT “The sinners in Jerusalem.”

[33:14]  ²² tn The words “they say” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[33:14]  ²³ tn Or “perpetual”; or “everlasting” (KJV, ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV).

[34:17]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and he causes the lot to fall for them.” Once again the pronominal suffix (“them”) is feminine plural, referring to the birds mentioned in v. 15b or to all of the creatures listed in vv. 14b-15 (all of which are identified with feminine nouns).

[34:17]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and his hand divides for them with a measuring line.” The pronominal suffix (“them”) now switches to masculine plural, referring to all the animals and birds mentioned in vv. 11-15, some of which were identified with masculine nouns. This signals closure for this portion of the speech, which began in v. 11. The following couplet (v. 17b) forms an inclusio with v. 11a through verbal repetition.

[34:17]  ²⁶ tn Heb “will possess it” (so NIV); NCV “they will own that land forever.”

[35:10]  ²⁷ tn Heb “and the redeemed will walk, the ransomed of the Lord will return.”

[35:10]  ²⁸ tn Heb “[will be] on their head[s].” “Joy” may be likened here to a crown (cf. 2 Sam 1:10). The statement may also be an ironic twist on the idiom “earth/dust on the head” (cf. 2 Sam 1:2; 13:19; 15:32; Job 2:12), referring to a mourning practice.

[35:10]  ²⁹ tn Heb “will overtake” (NIV); NLT “they will be overcome with.”

[35:10]  ³⁰ tn Heb “grief and groaning will flee”; KJV “sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”

[40:28]  ³¹ tn Heb “the ends of the earth,” but this is a merism, where the earth’s extremities stand for its entirety, i.e., the extremities and everything in between them.

[40:28]  ³² sn Exiled Israel’s complaint (v. 27) implies that God might be limited in some way. Perhaps he, like so many of the pagan gods, has died. Or perhaps his jurisdiction is limited to Judah and does not include Babylon. Maybe he is unable to devise an adequate plan to rescue his people, or is unable to execute it. But v. 28 affirms that he is not limited temporally or spatially nor is his power and wisdom restricted in any way. He can and will deliver his people, if they respond in hopeful faith (v. 31a).

[44:7]  ³³ tn Heb “let him call” or “let him proclaim” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV); NAB “Let him stand up and speak.”

[44:7]  ³⁴ tc The Hebrew text reads, “from (the time) I established an ancient people, and the coming things.” Various emendations have been proposed. One of the options assumes the reading מַשְׁמִיעִים מֵעוֹלָם אוֹתִיּוֹת (mashmi’im me’olam ’otiyyot); This literally reads “the ones causing to hear from antiquity coming things,” but more idiomatically would read “as for those who predict from antiquity what will happen” (cf. NAB, NEB, REB). The emendation directs the attention of the reader to those who claim to be able to predict the future, challenging them to actually do what they claim they can do. The MT presents Yahweh as an example to whom these alleged “predictors of the future” can compare themselves. Since the ancient versions are unanimous in their support of the MT, the emendations should be set aside.

[44:7]  ³⁵ tn Heb and those things which are coming let them declare for themselves.”

[51:11]  ³⁶ tn Heb “[will be] on their head[s].” “Joy” may be likened here to a crown (cf. 2 Sam 1:10). The statement may also be an ironic twist on the idiom “earth/dust on the head” (cf. 2 Sam 1:2; 13:19; 15:32; Job 2:12), referring to a mourning practice.

[51:11]  ³⁷ tn Heb “overtake” (so NIV); NASB “they will obtain.”

[51:11]  ³⁸ tn Heb “grief and groaning will flee.”

[54:8]  ³⁹ tn According to BDB 1009 s.v. שֶׁטֶף the noun שֶׁצֶף here is an alternate form of שֶׁטֶף (shetef, “flood”). Some relate the word to an alleged Akkadian cognate meaning “strength.”

[54:8]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “I hid my face from you.”

[54:8]  ⁴¹ tn Or “redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.

[55:3]  ⁴² tn The jussive with vav (ו) conjunctive following the imperative indicates purpose/result.

[55:3]  sn To live here refers to covenantal blessing, primarily material prosperity and national security (see vv. 4-5, 13, and Deut 30:6, 15, 19-20).

[55:3]  ⁴³ tn Or “an eternal covenant with.”

[55:3]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “the reliable expressions of loyalty of David.” The syntactical relationship of חַסְדֵי (khasde, “expressions of loyalty”) to the preceding line is unclear. If the term is appositional to בְּרִית (bÿrit, “covenant”), then the Lord here transfers the promises of the Davidic covenant to the entire nation. Another option is to take חַסְדֵי (khasde) as an adverbial accusative and to translate “according to the reliable covenantal promises.” In this case the new covenantal arrangement proposed here is viewed as an extension or perhaps fulfillment of the Davidic promises. A third option, the one reflected in the above translation, is to take the last line as comparative. In this case the new covenant being proposed is analogous to the Davidic covenant. Verses 4-5, which compare David’s international prominence to what Israel will experience, favors this view. In all three of these interpretations, “David” is an objective genitive; he is the recipient of covenantal promises. A fourth option would be to take David as a subjective genitive and understand the line as giving the basis for the preceding promise: “Then I will make an unconditional covenantal promise to you, because of David’s faithful acts of covenantal loyalty.”

[55:13]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “to the Lord for a name.” For שֵׁם (shem) used in the sense of “monument,” see also 56:5, where it stands parallel to יָד (yad).

[55:13]  ⁴⁶ tn Or, more literally, “a permanent sign that will not be cut off.”

[56:5]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “a hand and a name.” For other examples where יָד (yad) refers to a monument, see HALOT 388 s.v.

[56:5]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “name” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV).

[58:12]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “and they will build from you ancient ruins.”

[58:12]  ⁵⁰ tc The Hebrew text has “the one who restores paths for dwelling.” The idea of “paths to dwell in” is not a common notion. Some have proposed emending נְתִיבוֹת (nÿtivot, “paths”) to נְתִיצוֹת (nÿtitsot, “ruins”), a passive participle from נָתַץ (natats, “tear down”; see HALOT 732 s.v. *נְתִיצָה), because tighter parallelism with the preceding line is achieved. However, none of the textual sources support this emendation. The line may mean that paths must be repaired in order to dwell in the land.

[59:21]  ⁵¹ tn Or “my covenant with” (so many English versions); NCV “my agreement with.”

[59:21]  sn The Lord promises the repentant (note “to them”) that they and their offspring will possess his spirit and function as his spokesmen. In this regard they follow in the footsteps of the Lord’s special servant. See 42:1; 49:2; 51:16.

[59:21]  ⁵² tn Heb “from now and on into the future.”

[60:15]  ⁵³ tn Heb “Instead of your being abandoned and despised, with no one passing through, I will make you.”

[60:19]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “and your God for your splendor.”

[60:20]  ⁵⁵ sn In this verse “sun” and “moon” refer to the Lord’s light, which will replace the sun and moon (see v. 19). Light here symbolizes the restoration of divine blessing and prosperity in conjunction with the Lord’s presence. See 30:26.

[60:20]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “days” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[61:4]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “and the formerly desolate places they will raise up.”

[61:7]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “instead of your shame, a double portion.”

[61:7]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “and [instead of] humiliation they will rejoice [over] their portion.” The term תָחָת (takhat, “instead of”) is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

[61:7]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “therefore” (so KJV, NASB); NIV “and so.”

[61:8]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “in faithfulness”; NASB, NRSV, NLT “faithfully.”

[63:9]  ⁶² tn Heb “in all their distress, there was distress to him” (reading לוֹ [lo] with the margin/Qere).

[63:9]  ⁶³ tn Heb “the messenger [or “angel”] of his face”; NIV “the angel of his presence.”

[63:9]  sn This may refer to the “angel of God” mentioned in Exod 14:19, who in turn may be identical to the divine “presence” (literally, “face”) referred to in Exod 33:14-15 and Deut 4:37. Here in Isa 63 this messenger may be equated with God’s “holy Spirit” (see vv. 10-11) and “the Spirit of the Lord” (v. 14). See also Ps 139:7, where God’s “Spirit” seems to be equated with his “presence” (literally, “face”) in the synonymous parallelistic structure.

[63:9]  ⁶⁴ tn Or “redeemed” (KJV, NAB, NIV), or “delivered.”

[63:9]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “all the days of antiquity”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “days of old.”

[63:11]  ⁶⁶ tn Heb “and he remembered the days of antiquity, Moses, his people.” The syntax of the statement is unclear. The translation assumes that “his people” is the subject of the verb “remembered.” If original, “Moses” is in apposition to “the days of antiquity,” more precisely identifying the time period referred to. However, the syntactical awkwardness suggests that “Moses” may have been an early marginal note (perhaps identifying “the shepherd of his flock” two lines later) that has worked its way into the text.

[63:11]  ⁶⁷ tn The Hebrew text has a plural form, which if retained and taken as a numerical plural, would probably refer to Moses, Aaron, and the Israelite tribal leaders at the time of the Exodus. Most prefer to emend the form to the singular (רָעָה, ra’ah) and understand this as a reference just to Moses.

[63:11]  ⁶⁸ sn See the note at v. 10.

[63:12]  ⁶⁹ tn Heb “who caused to go at the right hand of Moses the arm of his splendor.”

[63:12]  ⁷⁰ tn Heb “making for himself a lasting name.”

[64:5]  ⁷¹ tn Heb “meet [with kindness].”

[64:5]  ⁷² tn Heb “the one who rejoices and does righteousness.”

[64:5]  ⁷³ tn Heb “in your ways they remember you.”

[64:5]  ⁷⁴ tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “look, you were angry and we sinned against them continually [or perhaps, “in ancient times”] and we were delivered.” The statement makes little sense as it stands. The first vav [ו] consecutive (“and we sinned”) must introduce an explanatory clause here (see Num 1:48 and Isa 39:1 for other examples of this relatively rare use of the vav [ו] consecutive). The final verb (if rendered positively) makes no sense in this context – God’s anger at their sin resulted in judgment, not deliverance. One of the alternatives involves an emendation to וַנִּרְשָׁע (vannirsha’, “and we were evil”; LXX, NRSV, TEV). The Vulgate and the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a support the MT reading. One can either accept an emendation or cast the statement as a question (as above).